The Course

The course is 5000m (5K) long. The course is in Panshanger Park, Thieves Lane entrance, Hertford. The course is run on a mixture of dirt paths, gravel paths, forest trail paths and grass. Some sections of the course may accumulate mud, leaves and puddles after rain. Dependent on availability, marshals will be at key sections of the course, or signs will be in place.

Please remember that the parkrun uses shared paths. For the continued success of the event, please give way to other park users. This won't hurt your time, it won't stop you from getting a PB and it will make sure everyone continues to enjoy the event.

Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users. Please also watch out for other park users when arriving and leaving. Parking may be limited so try to arrive early.

Course Safety

The Panshanger parkrun is a fun, free event organised by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. We wish to make the run as safe as possible, so runners, spectators and helpers are asked to take care about the following:

Please be considerate to the park and other park users at all times.

Children under the age of eleven must be accompanied (within arm's reach) throughout the run by a parent, guardian or appropriate adult of the parent's choice.

Please arrive by foot, by pedal-power or by public transport if you can - your efforts help to reduce our impact on the park and the planet.

Please consider volunteering to help occasionally - this event survives only because of your generosity - please visit the volunteer page for more information.

Take care near roads and car parks - some vehicles drive very quickly. Please congregate away from the cars and be careful in particular if you have children. If you’re driving to the run, please drive carefully even if you’re late!

When running, take care on uneven surfaces - whether on grass or on tarmac. Watch out for cyclists, other runners, pedestrians, children, dogs, wildlife, park animals, vehicles, park maintenance work, falling branches, bollards, posts and other obstacles around the course.

Please ensure that you are fit enough to walk, jog, run 5k (3.1 miles) with us. Health advice about running can be found at the excellent Runners' Medical Resource website (although this external website focuses on preparation for a race and does not describe parkrun events).

Remember to warm up before the run.

If you see a runner with a serious problem, please stop to help them out and get help as soon as possible.

If you’re watching, keep clear of runners on the course, and look after any children and dogs you may have with you.

It is not permitted to run with a pushchair and a dog at the same time.

Runners pushing buggies are also welcome, but please take extreme care of other runners around you. If possible start from the back of the field and try to keep to one side of the main body of runners.

While rare, Lyme Disease is present in areas where deer live, and occasionally passed to human’s through infected ticks. See NHS Choices website for more about Lyme Disease, and how to deal with ticks.

We hope these tips help to ensure that Panshanger parkrun is fun and safe for everyone.

Age Grading

All parkrun events use Age Grading to help athletes compare results.

Age Grading takes your time and uses the world record time for your sex and age group to produce a score (a percentage). This score allows you to compare your personal performance against other people's performances even though they might be a different age and a different sex to you - the higher the score the better the performance. The scores can also be compared across different race distances - to allow you to, for example, compare a 5km time against a marathon.

Course Map

Course Description

This scenic course is one anti-clockwise loop of Panshanger Park. It is run entirely off-road on a mixture of dirt paths, grass, gravel and forest trails. Starting from the Thieves Lane Car Park just off the A414, the first 700 metres is a gentle incline through Lady Hughes Wood along a wide forest trail of dirt and gravel. Runners then turn right onto a 300 metre grass stretch, before turning left at the 1km mark. The next 1km is a loop of a large field adjacent to Evergreen Wood. Just after the 2km mark, runners turn left onto a wide dirt track. After a long gentle descent through Garden Wood and past the half way mark, runners turn right through a gate (attended by a marshal) and pass the 3km point just before reaching the Riverside Cottage. The course crosses the River Mimram, with runners veering left just after the crossing onto a grass section that loops around Kings Lake before entering another field at 4km. At the end of the field, a sharp left then right turn takes runners over two small wooden bridges and onto a dirt trail between a field and the A414. At the end of the path, runners carry straight on into a field and at the far side veer left up the hill for the final metres to the finishing line.

Facilities

Disabled parking can be provided at the start point in Thieves Lane.
There are no toilets.

Getting There

Location of start

The runs starts from the Thieves Lane Car Park just off the A414.

Getting there by public transport

Hertford North Station 0.8 miles
Hertford East Station 1.6 miles

Thieves Lane is serviced by the Intalink local bus service, with the nearest bus stop (routes 388 and 641) on Thieves Lane opposite Ladywood Road. From the bus stop, walk south along Thieves Lane for about 200 metres, then turn right onto the gravel access road that leads to the start line. A full bus timetable is available from the Intalink website. Enter Thieves Lane into the search bar.

Getting there on foot

The start line can be accessed on foot at the southern end of Thieves Lane, or the western end of the old Hertingfordbury Road.

Getting there by road

There is NO parking for runners in Thieves Lane car park. The small car park at the start of the run is only for emergency access, disabled
runners, and regular park users.
There is limited parking on the old Hertingfordbury Road (SG14 2AR) which runs parallel to and north of the A414 dual carriageway. This can be found on the A414 head East towards Hertford at the Thieves Lane roundabout and then take the first left on to Valeside and then
immediately left on to Hertingfordbury Road. There is a footpath on to Thieves Lane at the end of this road. Other street parking is available in the area.
Runners are asked to park sensibly and with due respect for residents in the area.

Post Run Coffee

Every week we grab a post parkrun coffee at Mary's cafe2u coffee van at the start and finish - please come and join us!